It’s not a “hot topic” like it was a few weeks ago, but the debate over the Confederate flag is still circulating around the Internet. While I’m not being constantly bombarded on my Twitter account by people trying to proclaim the flag isn’t tied to racism, I still get the occasional Facebook message from the random knuckle-dragger professing their unwavering belief that the Confederacy was just about states’ rights – not slavery.

I guess it goes back to my rule: Don’t try to use reason with people who are unreasonable – it’s pointless.

Well, since the Confederate battle flag officially came down in South Carolina, its supporters have been out all across the country to proudly show off their ignorance about history and/or racism their belief that the flag simply stands for “Southern heritage.”

What I can’t help but notice is how so many of these folks who are proudly “supporting the Confederate flag” quite often seem tied to some form of racism.

Take for instance a rally held in South Carolina just a couple of weeks after the flag was taken down that was organized by the Ku Klux Klan. As if our nation’s most infamous racial hate group organizing an event wasn’t bad enough, there was also a Nazi flag spotted at the event.

Again, the Confederate flag doesn’t represent racism, right?

Then there was this past weekend when a large group of Confederate flag-toting fools apparently decided to terrorize a black boy’s birthday party.

According to those in attendance, a group of trucks parked in a field next to the home where the party was taking place, at which point some members of the group began yelling threats and racial slurs towards those in attendance at the party.

“One had a gun, saying he was gonna kill the [racial slur],” one person in attendance said. “Then one of them said gimme the gun, I’ll shoot them [racial slur].”

Of course, members of the group say the partygoers instigated everything.

Because of course they did. These partygoers instigated things so well that they apparently forced these clowns to park in a field next to the party and spout off racial slurs and threats. That story might be believable until you hear at least one racial slur that was caught on video being said by someone among the convoy of trucks. It’s hard to claim that your group had no racist intentions when people within that group are shouting racial slurs at African-Americans.

Though the truth is, these incidents aren’t rare. It’s like I said to someone a few days ago, not all people who support the Confederate flag are racists – but almost all racists support the Confederate flag. Growing up in Texas, I’ve seen countless incidents where the Confederate flag was linked to some form of racism.

And when you terrorize a black boy’s birthday party, while hurling racial slurs at those in attendance, it’s pretty difficult to rationally claim that those Confederate flags you’re flying have nothing to do with racism.

Allen Clifton is a native Texan who now lives in the Austin area. He has a degree in Political Science from Sam Houston State University. Allen is a co-founder of Forward Progressives and creator of the popular Right Off A Cliff column and Facebook page. Be sure to follow Allen on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to his channel on YouTube as well.